Electric vehicles and Southeast Asia expansion drove Guangzhou’s 65.8 percent jump in vehicle shipments in the first five months of 2026
GAC Group and XPeng power Guangzhou’s auto exports surge
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Guangzhou’s auto exports are setting a record pace this year, led by GAC Group’s push into Southeast Asia and the Middle East and XPeng’s expansion across 60 countries.
A 65.8 percent year on year-on-year increase was recoded for Guangzhou’s auto exports in the first five months of 2026, with the city shipping over 120,000 vehicles, the Guangzhou Municipal Commerce Bureau said on 29 June. Export value reached 13.295 billion yuan, a 56.1 percent increase from the same period last year.
[See more: Hong Kong to open first large-scale electric vehicle battery recycling facility]
New energy vehicles are behind most of that growth. Electric passenger cars accounted for 75,500 of the units shipped, nearly double the previous year’s volume, with their combined value climbing to 9.36 billion yuan.
GAC Group is driving the bulk of the increase in Guangzhou’s auto exports. The company reported cumulative exports of 98,861 units for the January to May period, up 135 percent year on year, as it works toward an annual export target of 250,000 vehicles. Much of that growth has come from Southeast Asia, where GAC now controls close to half of Thailand’s electric taxi market, and from Hong Kong, where it topped the private car sales chart in April. The company operates six overseas factories, in Thailand, Malaysia, Nigeria, Austria, Indonesia and Cambodia, alongside more than 700 sales and service outlets in over 100 countries.
Other brands behind Guangzhou’s auto exports
XPeng is following a similar path. The Guangzhou based automaker shipped 24,066 vehicles overseas in the first five months of the year, a 61.4 percent increase, according to China Passenger Car Association data. It now operates in 60 countries and regions and is targeting more than 90,000 overseas deliveries for 2026, more than double last year’s total of 45,008.
Joint venture manufacturers are also expanding their export operations. Nissan’s sole vehicle export entity in China, based in Guangzhou, is pursuing international certification for export models and is targeting 10,000 vehicle shipments this year.
Guangzhou’s auto exports surge reflects a broader national shift. China’s vehicle exports rose 63 percent to 4.06 million units in the first five months of 2026, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, with new energy vehicles making up nearly half of that total.
